quote:Originally posted by HeruStar:
[QUOTE]
I would just like to interject that, in the defense of exclusivity, what we call 'the word of God' can't be shared amongst religions. We focus way to much attention on comparing the similarities instead of contrasting the inconsistencies and contradictions. The contrast I like to use is, Jesus says 'turn the other cheek', Mohammad says 'strike them back harder than they struck you', Buddha says 'no worries, kharma, they'll get theirs'. The differences in how these sages approached dealing with our trangressors speaks magnitudes.
I can't address the statement about Mohammed. But I can say, based on my extensive studies of Buddhism, that "no worries, karma they'll get theirs" is NOT a quote from any Buddhist text I'm aware of. Not only that, but it's a gross misrepresentation of Buddhist thought. Many Buddhist texts and traditions repeatedly show Buddhist saints quite literally sacrificing themselves for the sake of all living creatures - including their enemies.
As an example you can read the article below:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/kuanyin
where you'll find, among other things,
"It is unfortunate that Buddhism's most enduring (and universal) contribution to the world has been insufficiently translated as compassion. The original Sanskrit word is 'karuna,' which holds within itself traces of the fragment 'ru,' meaning to weep. While the Oxford dictionary describes compassion as pity bordering on the merciful, karuna is actually our ability to relate to another in so intense a measure that the plight of the other affects us as much as if it had been our own."
I'm REALLY glad to see this discussion happening . Just thought I'd try to contribute.
If we honestly want to answer the question that started this thread, I'd like to encourage people to really explore other religious texts. I mean seriously. Personally I've found more that speaks to me in the Lotus Sutra (Buddhism) and in the Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism) than I ever got from the Bible.
That statement is personal. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. But you can't honestly engage this issue without actually knowing something outside the Christian tradition.
Lastly, didn't Martin Luther King Jr. get the idea of nonviolent resistance from Gandhi who was a Hindu and a devoted student of the Gita??????